“Hallowing, or the Black Body Returns” by Lisbeth White (after Harmony Holiday) reparations begin here, within the body, withinthe striations of muscle to tendon, nerve to tissue which is what you needed to knowthe first time white hands touched you prodding as they said for wellness & what you have needed to Read more…
“American Sycamore” by Lisbeth White did they forgetthe vibrationof our throatshummingin the shade? did they not delightin my sister’sclimbing habits,nor stretch their limbsto lift her? didn’t theyhear uswhispering secretinto peeling trunk,breath passedinto the whitebark beneath? didn’t we liveas a forest& didn’twe diealso the same,our livesmere materialfor an otherliving? we ran Read more…
“True Story” by Anthony Warnke “My ego keeps banging the angry gong” – Arthur Rimbaud The #MeToo movement sweeps through the academy, then through American Buddhism, and back. Chairmen of the Reason Industry wear the same leather jackets as chairmen of the New Age. Is there a store called Middle-Aged Read more…
“ECH(O)-TERRORIST (5)” by Derek Graf O sleepless wives of Mount Sinai, do you fear your dangerous proximity to the sun? The last strip mall in Kansas closes down with little fanfare, and this October night’s unseasonal heat touches me deeply. When I die, spread my ashes over the landfills that Read more…
“ECH(O)-TERRORIST (4)” by Derek Graf In the dream I bury my father in the swamps of Florida, that empire of shithead tourists. In the dream he follows me to Kansas City, where we watch the rats gather at the river. Some day, I’ll take my hammer to the roots of Read more…
“ECH(O)-TERRORIST (3)” by Derek Graf O father, O hunter, bury me in the casket of your eye. Tonight I sleep against a pile of survey stakes in the glad tomb of a friend’s garage. Lover, rejoice with your shameless neighborhood, where all the front lawns are privatized and all the Read more…
“ECH(O)-TERRORIST (2)” by Derek Graf Zoning tape and timber ruins in a landscape: how pretty goes the night, how pretty go the stars like a thousand cigarettes thrown from the hand of a diesel truck driver speeding down one of America’s gutted highways. Rising floodwaters outside Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Bismarck, Read more…
“A Theory of Forgiveness” by Len Lawson Black people will forgive you quicker than you can say Orangeburg Massacre.–Nikky Finney Orange [a president……and now a vice-presidentwho just got the taste of segregationout of his mouth after fifty yearssweeps through South Carolinawith Clyburn at his right hand and declares the black Read more…
“Love Me Like Your Guns” by Len Lawson I’m as black as theyI’m your trophy above the mantleI’m your side piecein your holster I’m your gift and your right from God AlmightyGrip the neck of this coveted steelI’m your dirty letters and naughty numbersAR-15, 9 MM, your .45Rat-tat-tat-tat meBlauk blam Read more…
“What If Martin Luther King Could Do It” by Len Lawson I know it’s unfathomable to seeafter the way we’ve anointed himpatron saint of peaceprophet of nonviolencepriest of martyrs sittingat the right hand of Jesusand Paul at the left handlike Moses and Elijahat the Transfiguration.I know it’s inside of us Read more…